March 14, 2014

googling and futzing

Just spent 20 minutes - twenty whole minutes I'll never get back - googling and futzing, futzing and googling, an attempt to work out why the shutter on my 'blad won't fire. Turns out I am an idiot (hardly news) as all it was was something I could have worked out if I'd not been near a computer. Sometimes ones own wiles really are enough (note to self). I should be in the country, in the kitchen garden from where we see this lovely old lady mowing all day, but as our house is currently roofless, here I am in the office instead, getting the web to do the work for me. D'uh.

Whilst I am here - and brief I shall be as our builder Jack tells me the roof is, as of now, on - I thought I'd have a quick chat about cookbooks. Partly 'cause in the bookshop we see so many and partly 'cause a newsletter my inbox receives weekly recently suggested that one should stop cooking from books as magazines and newspapers are more seasonally appropriate (a-hem). There were a lot of very pretty things that arrived at xmas, but not many of them appealed, perhaps because I've so many already, but also, I suspect, losing weight and changing my attitude to food over the past 12 months have played their respective parts. All the years I spent cooking from recipes have made me an excellent on-the-hop cook, albeit one who no longer pays food the kind of attention she used to. Hell, why don't I just quote my beautiful northern hemisphere friend Alison who, as per usual, sums things up far more eloquently than I:

it's about not only what we eat, but how much, and the timing of certain kinds of foods through the cycle of a day. and soon the seasonal part will all change again, with the oncoming spring weather. one thing i do realize is that in paying attention to eating in this way food is honored, but also it becomes somehow de-emphasized. it's interesting.

"food is honored, but...somehow de-emphasized". YES. That.

In truth, the only cookbooks I've actually parted cash with lately have been Nigel Slater's Eat (lovely little thing that it is), Sarah Wilson's new I Quit Sugar one (still not entirely convinced, but the Inside Out Paleo Bread is really rather good) and, best of all, my mate Lesh's Nourished e-book. Lesh's book is by far the most useful and wise, and I am unashamedly suggesting you have a squiz on her site.

hi ana - how are you, darl?!! good question. de-emphasized in that i used to spend a lot of time thinking about food before and after cooking the meal, and yet now it's a delight, yes, but useful (food is fuel is my current thinking) and my mind is elsewhere before and after - less obsessed is how i am these days. does that make sense? :-)

kitchen diaries II is beautiful, no? and don't you just love the writing on the cover? will get it out again this weekend, thank you for the reminder!

I still love reading cook books but I find I don't cook from them quite as often nowadays. The reason I love blogs is because you can google your available ingredients find something to cook. But mainly I'm trying to simplify my meals Nigel Slater is just so good. I made a brown rice pilau Of Nigel's from the newspaper just this week and it was just so simple and so good.

I have just stumbled upon your site - what a gorgeous space! I am sure you are familiar with Yotam Ottolenghi, but just in case you're not I thought I should mention his cookbooks here as they are my absolute favorite - delicious food and beautiful photography interlaced with personal tidbits and stories - perfect.

i mean that food is honored as a way to nourish the physical being that it may live, but de-emphasized in that with greater simplicity and the focus on nourishment and health, that the pre-occupations with all things food-related seem to drop away … i no longer choose certain foods to eat because i'm craving them or i want to taste their particular exquisiteness. i choose foods based on their usefulness for the health of my body and soul …